2017 Topps Heritage Mike Trout pick-up

I picked up this Action variation parallel for my Trout PC - because he's gotten to be so prominent with his premium cards going for big money, I’m merely collecting Trout’s cards ‘as is’ as opposed to really caring about whether I pick up any specific card.

I'll keep any miscellaneous cards I'll pull or find and when the mood strikes - look for at least one nice looking, current year non-auto insert / parallel that isn’t going to cost an arm and a leg.

My cardhoarding misadventures - the struggle to keep collecting viable

Nothing is ever clean like the way I go about things but it doesn't mean I'm not trying to figure things out - however, at times I feel like I'm swamped with baseball cards and a reboot is in order to stave away the idea all I've collected isn't relevant.

If I'm not efficient, if I'm not putting things away, then why even bother [?] - maybe there hasn't been any commitment to what happens after the fact.

From reading other card bloggers, it's hard to believe that baseball / sports / non-sports cards can fit so neatly within their daily lives - I have no card room, no card table and no space to really leisurely stretch out with my cards.

Maybe my safe haven is being able to be upstairs in my sister's old room - but then having gone through this past summer, there are prolonged periods of time when I just don't want to be in there because it is too hot.

I find myself struggling with the collecting dilemma - how do I keep things relevant, where I care about the cards for themselves, when I get overwhelmed and feel like I've outgrown them.

If I can see things five or six years from now, I'm sure I'll still be collecting something - so I kind of want to have a blueprint of my collecting activities i.e. this is what I'm doing with the cards I add on a regular basis.

I'm afraid I'm the guy with no focus on his collection - if I'm sort of, kind of collecting, how do I stay away from being aimless?

Not really having the card space to deal with anything but squirreling them away in random spots - where I hope to get back to them [or not].

A.) What I really want is a 'competent' A-Z singles collection - I want to build up a collection of trade bait perhaps, but just cards I can flip through as far as relevant players and possibly some relevant, but not quite my PC stash of cards.

B.) I also want is a comprehensive 'PC' where I have any cards picturing Angels / related to Angels accounted for - anything picturing an Angel at some point is part of my PC, though with varying qualifications.

Angels commons are cards I generally don't care about though I want to keep some handy. - most cards produced between the junk wax era, say 1986-1992 and featuring a rank-and-file player, is stored as commons within my A-Z archive.

I have a section of Angels among my 'team boxes,' which is basically an assorted group of cards put together with the idea I have something to flip through - this is where I sort of want to keep any card that piques my eye but isn't really worth more than about a quarter.

Cards of Angels team stars are stored either in my decade star boxes or within my A-Z archive for space - some players I sort of still care about, but others, not so much.

Angels inserts - I think I'll tend to lose them if I put them in a book, but if it doesn't feature a prominent Angel or even one who made it with the MLB team, what am I going to do with some card?

Angels A-Z singles - what maybe more decent than a common insert, but something less than something for my PC/showcase collection.

Angels personal collection - I feel like I don't have enough unique Angels cards for a Top 30 PC deal, so maybe change the name to 'showcase collection,' so it maybe a little be more inclusive.

C.) Realistic and reasonable consumption - can I go to a Target and pick up a blaster or a rack pack of sorts and feel like I'm not wasting my money? Sometimes I get self-conscious when I feel like I'm not really going to get the nice hits and it's not worth it for me to rip retail in any form.

It's easier for me to grab some packs at my local card shop, when I see there is something new out - though at times my LCS visits maybe infrequent.

I was totally disinterested visiting a card show this past weekend- maybe it was because it was in the morning and I'm not a morning person, but I was meandering around, wondering if I could pick anything up.

If I could go watch myself without a purpose and a plan - almost feeling out of my element.

Maybe I prefer the quiet LCS or at least picking things up online - the only things I picked up were six single packs of penny sleeves [non-premium] for $0.50 each.

When I hit the bargain bins at the card show, card shop, et al, how do I find cheap cards I'm going to appreciate - what do I really do when I bring home a 'haul' of assorted cards worth about $0.50 or less? What do I do to prevent decent looking cheap cards from being just another grouping of cards, particularly the ones I end up not picking up because I can get them autographed in-person at some point.

D.) How do I hammer on the established activities and shine them up [?] - collecting topics, mini sets i.e. transaction box, maintaining decade boxes of 'binder stars,' etc.

Playing with my cards and maintaining upkeep

My ongoing collecting mind runs a mile a minute every time I go through my loose cards - while I may or may not have real life issues going on, collecting autographs / baseball cards are the default hobbies that animate me like some others may think about fantasy sports.

While I really only have a finite number of opportunities to actually get myself out somewhere to get stuff signed - the consumption of baseball cards [to try and get autographed] and building up a decent number for as many different subjects as possible maybe a year round thing now.

I'm looking to 'game plan' for spring training, the regular MLB / MiLB season and whatever else may come up of interest - maybe at times I feel overwhelmed and aimless when I spend money on more unsigned cards i.e. maybe singles, a set or a lot of cards.

But I've got to keep up or else I feel I'm behind - not as much when I'm trying to get established player's autograph at MLB games, but more when I take a detour to hunt for prospects and other non-MLB players.

Maybe the most important aspect of my collecting endeavors is maintaining upkeep, so it's not just one big mess of loose cards I have to swim through - easier said than done when at times I'm focusing on the next thing.

I have to know where cards are so I can go and prep for an outing to get my cards signed - maybe arrange for a way to have cards of upcoming teams in a way where I can get to them instead of having to dig for cards at the last minute.

How do I maintain upkeep of random things like my transactions box - keeping track of various moves so I can a little mini set of loose cards and so my team boxes for autograph hunting are updated?

A.) Changes/expansion/realignment due to overflow of cards - a space crunch may have me leaning on making a temporary A-Z box as a semi-permanent place to store random cards from my A-Z archive stored in three 3,500 count boxes.

I don't want overstuffed team boxes and A-Z archives - I want to keep the cards together as much as possible and don't want to deviate from how I've arranged things, but maybe some tweaks are in order.

B.) How do I pack my A-Z archives with cards from recent years [so it feels more relevant as opposed to being strictly a cardboard morgue] and how do I keep track of the most random cards [maybe one or two cards] from those boxes - so I can hit on the right cue to find ones, 'on demand?'

Maybe purchase a new 3,500 count box for my A-Z archives - rearrange A-F, G-M, N-Z arrangement if cards are packed too tight.

Maybe pull 'extraneous' cards to give away and discard otherwise - maybe about 200 per box to give away somewhere; I need a good, diverse archive of cards from many years, but the foundation of my A-Z archives have been built on cards I won't bother to try and get autographed.

C.) Have something to do with cards each day - sounds simple enough where I work on something just to chip away, so I don't feel like I'm getting away from what is supposedly leisurely activities for myself.

Collecting A-Fraud

I sort of miss the mid 2000's when this guy was the best player in the game and trying to flag him down to get something signed meant all the world - even if he'd be rather oblivious when walking through the crowd of fans like he was some kind of deity, there was a few opportunities where he would sign at the ballpark.

Of course, A-Rod is still a big deal these days but for all the wrong reasons - I don't think anyone is shedding a tear because he might be on the brink on being suspended through his age 40 season.

I will give A-Rod all the credit in the world if he can play a full MLB season in 2014 or after when he serves an apparent suspension, how ever long that will be - I still want to see what he can still do as a player and see this latest mess he's put himself through as just one hurdle he has to get through with the world against him.

Over the last decade, I've picked up assorted base and cheap insert cards over the years featuring A-Rod - I've also got a couple of signed baseballs [one he signed in-person and one bought from eBay], his 1994 Upper Deck SP rookie card and a couple of certified autograph cards I paid some good money for.

I'm not going to go out and burn what I've picked up, though I have long stopped caring about actively collecting anything of his - since in a superficial way, it's all relatively worthless now.

Rebooting my core interests in cardboard

Thinking about the baseball cards I collect, my interest lingers but my lair is in ruins, my collection is in decay - life isn't linear, years go by, stuff happens or doesn't happen and and it's just a matter of when things get blown up, when I thought I had a system in place for five or six years.

Maybe cardboard is useless anyway but I feel like stuff I've coveted at various points are literally collecting dust, loose in places where I don't want to deal with them - have I gone too far in literally not doing anything with cards I once collected?

While the part of my collecting life as in-person / through the mail autograph collector has been pretty much spelled out - I'm kind of 'lost' at times as far as other aspects of collecting baseball cards for themselves.

I feel like I've got to reboot my collection in a radical way because I've sort of lost the way I organize my cards - the way I physically put them together isn't quite how I want things to be and it bothers me.

I keep in mind lists list of all the countless, various places [representing various interests] where I funnel cards into - but that is mostly sorting cards to be autographed and separating them in a nuts-and-bolts way as opposed to having a definite way to collect certain cards [that are not really meant to be scrap cards to be autographed or shoved away as part of my collecting topics collections].

I don't know where cards I've blogged about end up - I hoard and look for stuff that ends up being clutter.

What about the personal collection cards - is there a core set of cards I can showcase or is it all just jumbled up?

What about the various cards in my 'A-Z' singles collection that are now scattered all over - various certified autograph cards of prospects who are supposed to be great but end up being busts?

I cling to the idea I've got to play with all the cards I've hoarded instead of looking for the next cardboard fix - this is my cardboard collecting life and I make my own fun and try not to worry about anything else, everyone else is doing.

However, as much as I wouldn't care to admit it, I'm more hoarder than collector and its come to a head - I have gotten older and as much as I want to collect, maybe it's time I stop pretending to be a mad scientist.

My collecting goal and my blog goal for 2011

I don't know how I've evolved as a collector over the last 10 years, but there is just something about collecting that makes me want to go on - to buy more stuff to sort through because I like baseball cards in general.

The reality is I don't always have the money to spend on any sorts of cards on a whim - however as a collector, it doesn't mean I should completely refrain from regularly feeding my hunger of cardboard with various baseball players pictured on them.

To get newer cards in my collection, trading maybe the most important collecting aspect I want to engage in this year - even if I have a long ways to go before getting a competent trade list going and perhaps getting in touch with other willing traders.

I just have to pick my spots and look for about 10-15 blog trades - trading for the cards I may need.

My goal in 2011 for the blog is to have at have double digit posts per month on this blog - everything seems to have been blogged about and sometimes I feel I'm lagging behind other bloggers who have simply been more prominent.

However, it doesn't mean I should go idle for a period of time and just spit out two, three or four random posts a month - why not go for 10, 15, 20 random posts to see if I can generate some reaction and also get some response from other collectors.

My baseball card collecting endeavors have gone nowhere

It is probably no coincidence I'm throwing this up at a time where at least a couple of collectors - have expressed concerns about their own collecting endeavors.

For me personally, I love the novelty of collecting baseball cards - partly because I can objectify the players I may get to see on TV and in-person through little pieces of cardboard that are supposed to be collectible in one form or the other.

However there are so many random cards scattered about in a bed I'm probably supposed to have been sleeping in, my computer table, my sorting table, out in boxes all over the floor in my room, et al - I've kind of let the cards pile up without dilligently picking after myself.

IT IS LIBERATING TO SEE HOW pointless collecting baseball cards is -when I can't account for particular ones or when I feel like I'm buried under the rubble. Do I really to pick up anything else? I don't really have the gumption to consume anymore new cards.

During the last 10-15 years, I don't know if I've been able to buy as many cards compared to the average Collector Joe who spends hundreds or thousands of dollars each year - but I feel a big burden with the amount of card clutter I refuse to have anything to do with at this time.

Do I have a collecting goal and/or purpose - yes, it just doesn't have anything to do with baseball cards right now.

I'm more interested in collecting baseball autographs in-person - other than picking up ones picturing players I hope to see in-person and trying to get them inked up.

Living within a half hour to a Major League Baseball stadium, collecting baseball autographs in-person - keeps me compelled to keep up with baseball cards, but I've taken one, long detour as far as having a beat on what actual baseball card collectors / speculators are going gaga about these days or not.

The pro-collecting post

This is the stuff I enjoy as a collector - sometimes I just have to step back and figure out what I really enjoy.

Maybe I'd like to focus inward, so I'm trying to appreciate what I already have - while accounting for the novelty in new stuff and picking some new things.

1.) Seeing themes coming together - getting one more autograph set card done, putting together small 'unofficial' sets of cards, sets of assorted player cards I've accumulated, etc.
2.) Getting autographs in-person and going through the process of having an opportunity - a moment to get my cards or other items signed.
3.) Picking up collecting topics cards featuring unique themes - I'm not the only one, but it is addicting to leaf through a stack of otherwise common cards I've put together from scratch and see there is a theme there.
4.) Busting loose packs to see what new baseball cards look like for the first time - they come out on the shelves.
5.) Picking up loose cards to be autographed - particularly players' cards I'll have in my hands for the first time.
6.) The process of looking for the next - autograph experience, player to collect, blog post to pore over, et al.
7.) Adding a personal collection card to fit into a regional collection - consisting of past/present and future Los Angeles/California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels players.
8.) Finding particular memorabilia/autograph cards out of a so-called bargain bin - particularly if the card features a personal favorite, a star or even a Hall of Famer.
9.) Adding a premium card or two for my personal collection - something that isn't exactly out of the cheapo boxes and something
10.) Of course I like my hits too - whenever I do get an opportunity to pick up a hobby box of cards.

The beat goes on - blog thoughts and goals for 2010 and beyond

As time goes on and my collecting habits evolve or even revert - I'd like to evaluate my collecting efforts and think about what I want to do with my hobby as short and long term goals.

I'm more of an autograph collector, trying to get stuff signed, than someone interested in strictly collecting baseball cards - however, there is still a strong infatuation with baseball cards, so I like to have a blog to discuss them.

I find I lose interest in completing some of the baseball card related goals I've listed for last year - so there isn't much incentive to talk about certain things.

However, I realize I'm sort of a 'lifer' and for better or for worse - I'm collecting baseball cards for the long haul.

I like to read about other's experiences in the hobby in order to get a chance to see - what everyone else is doing and what everyone else is interested in collecting.

I hope I can share some insight to my collecting endeavors - while figuring out, there is room to collect cards, there is room to have my thoughts heard.

Blog goals for 2010 and beyond
A.) Have at least one sentence almost immediately what my particular post is all about - I need to step away from the keyboard, if I feel I cannot explain the meaning of my post in one or two precise sentences.

B.) Don't be too wordy, too preachy, etc - I need to say things with less words and not act like I always have the answers.

C.) Pick my spots to 'feature' a player, card, autograph, et al - so a set of posts doesn't end up reading the same way, only with different pictures and slightly different words.

D.) Stay current - either about collecting baseball cards, collecting autographs, talking about the subjects featured on autographs or subjects who are signing the autographs.

E.) I had a blog high of 157 for the year of 2009 - match at least that and have at least seven months of double-digit posts.

F.) Don't blather on about something too esoteric - though only I can dictate what I can or cannot post, even if I don't end up having '158 perfect posts' by the end of 2010.

G.) A blog is a place to challenge preconceived notions, misguided ideals, misguided folks and every other issue related to the hobby - however, I don't plan to do a lot of that.

The anti-collecting post

I don't know if I'm really devoted to collecting baseball cards as much as I like the idea of being able to say I still collect after all these years - it seems tough to set goals or at least ones that will stick through next year.

At times I do not want anything to do with collecting - I realize cardboard pictures of men isn't where it's at and I shudder to think that is all I care about after 15 or 20 years, while other people have moved on.

1.) I think too much about collecting, I read the blogs, peruse the forums - without actually enjoying it.
2.) If I buy a random box of cards, unless I pull something - I'm just paying towards someone else getting the big hit out of a product. If pull a big hit, then it probably will not be worth as much in a few months.
3.) Random hits are worth $0.99 plus shipping on eBay - no matter how much I talk particular ones on my blog.
4.) My favorite players are more successful in their life, than I am in mine - collecting their cards is a reminder of that.
5.) One day I'll be buried in my cards - who knows where the cards and I are going afterwards.
6.) Listing collecting goals for a particular year falls flat - when there is no money or interest to pursue them.
7.) I don't know what not 'being able to polish a turd' means - so I keep picking up crap cards [repacks, loose packs from the 'junk wax era', etc] and convince myself I can do something with them.
8.) My only option for opening packs is retail - but the ones at Target or Walmart are mostly searched.
9.) Picking up a few base cards of my favorite players doesn't really amount to much - I've hit the ceiling.
10.) I'll be more than 10 years older - than some of players I'm currently or will be collecting.

Dealing with the superstars

I'm trying to understand this desire to load up on assorted cards of superstar players [past and present] - but then would you pay more than a quarter for cards you really can't do anything to. I've never been a serious set collector, so I don't need particular cards for sets.

Maybe I want to pick up cheap non-autograph inserts during the past 15-20 years just to sate some sort of revisionist collecting itch - maybe pick up shiny, old school inserts from the super premium era of the 1990s? Or maybe pick up all the rookie cards of the hot players back 15-20 years ago, but are now in monster boxes for a quarter or $0.50 each.

Maybe I want to pick up assorted base star cards - from sets printed when I didn't even know what a baseball card was or from sets that was initially considered a high-end, expensive product during its release [like 1989 Upper Deck and 1990 Leaf as far the time frame is concerned].

They are all sitting in monster boxes and handfuls of them need to be liberated, but whether it is new cards or old cards - part of it is the mentality of trying to salvage treasure as a baseball card collector and putting some context in-between the things I see as far as modern collectors not really collecting, but gambling.

Maybe I'm doing some gambling myself - but I'm sticking to the penny slots, knowing I'm not a high-roller.

On the other hand, if I'm just 'have not' doing with what I can because I can't afford better cards - why bother when it all becomes clutter to me just the same and it doesn't make sense to build something up that I don't feel will make a positive impact in my collecting endeavors.

Maybe I want to show off my vast knowledge of cards on this blog - maybe I want to be like DayF over at Cardboard Junkie, whom I don't think never has met a piece of cardboard he didn't like, whether it be baseball, football, basketball, other sports and non-sports cards.

The most important thing for me is get cards to be signed in-person or through the mail - I don't exactly care for many of the cards [typically base cards/cheap inserts] of the established players I have in those binders [though it maybe a small accomplishment I have 15-20 cards of particular players housed in nine-pocket sheets].

Why would I need more cards worth not much more than a quarter each - when I've already built up an archive of cards over the years. When does picking up a base star cards/non-autographed inserts going pay off when there is so much more.

Figuring it out in 2009 - collecting to blog

I'm a baseball card collector who has always liked cards - but collecting doesn't matter as much at times and it is hard to get into it or at least I feel inconsistent with my collecting habits. Where is the balance between liking what you collect, even if it is picking up commons at a card show or being able to talk shop about the latest cards?

I keep getting drawn back into collecting because I like the process of picking up cards, knowing it is my last link to adolescence - but in the 21st century, collecting is something I can blog about.

Collecting to blog is pretty important because it serves as a lifeline to share your interests with other like minded collectors - on the other hand, does the story get redundant trying to describe the ideal of being a collector and enjoying the process of your collecting endeavors? With so many things going on with new products and new players, it is hard to keep up with what everyone else is doing.

For the true collector in the real world - having a blog gives you currency over your typical Joe Collector. You know you can measure up [and then some] if you have your own blog. Any schmuck can post a YouTube video, but can anyone constantly rehash the same ideas, rants and thoughts over and over? Even if you aren't particularly creative about every post, it is still something that becomes a part the process involved with collecting.

Trading card reflections

I'm afraid I'm suffering from a 'trading card coma -' where I can't get excited about stacks of cards I already have no use for.


I get excited to buy cards here and there but sometimes I get disconnected from trading card endeavors - busting a few packs, maybe a blaster, maybe buying some singles may signal I'm still a collector and I'm going to be here in the long run.


At times, I get so excited about a stack of commons I dug out card by card - only to realize it is all crap.

Every other 'break' of something just adds to the misery - seeing cards pile up makes me think twice.


On the other hand, I tend to think everything has a caveat and I tend to realize nothing matters - most of my collecting endeavors are impulsively based on simplistic means [i.e. like picking up common cards to get randomly autographed]. I don't know if there is a bigger picture for me to pursue and while I know it is just isn't true, my earth is flat.

You visit blogs, forums and you want to be like everyone else, but who in real life shares your delight [?] - I am more like a pack rat instead of a dedicated collector.


What do I do with all my stuff? If I was such a great collector, every I pick up has both a place and a purpose - unfortunately it seems my collections are a little fractured.

Various purchases here and there in my room, but nothing every showcased into a particular theme - I think I talk a good game about collecting cards, but do I take a moment to seriously blog about my endeavors? Do I show the world what I'm doing, in a positive way?

For the most part, I'm not as attached to the hip to strictly collecting cards here and there - my interest tends to wane and I just get a little frustrated because my enthusiasm for collecting is just for show.

I have to find a way to make collecting fun again - where I'm not grousing about excessive stacks of cards I can't deal with and other dysfunctions related to my collecting endeavors.

Personal collecting notes

I'd like to pick up some cheap, unique oddball cards and inserts - but then can I pick up [and possibly blog about] that is still somewhat unique? Everyone else has done, the 'random stack of unique crap I found decaying in my closet' post. I want to do the same, but I feel like I've never had a surplus of unique [often discarded and after all these years, still worthless] cards.

Sampler runs - I've got an Upper Deck 'sampler set' I put together featuring a card from 1989-2008. I need to 'revamp' the Topps and Fleer/update Donruss versions of the 'sampler set' because I don't like the cards I pulled. Maybe I could do other sets i.e. modern Bowman [1989-2008?], Topps Heritage, et al.

Basic goals [?] - trying to scratch various itches?
1.) Pick up five graded rookie cards of sporting greats - 1975 Topps George Brett, 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson, 1981 Topps Joe Montana, 1983 Topps Tony Gwynn and 1984 Topps John Elway.
2.) Pick up three PSA graded vintage Angels' cards - my 1961-1980 'collection.'
3.) Pick up five or six vintage cards - ungraded, in vg-ex to ex condition, on the cheap. I'd like to make up a 'list' of 10-15 cards, but for me, it has to have some sort of theme. A 'collecting ideal' is not a theme.

Sample
1962 Topps Banks
1973 Topps Marichal

6.) Lou Gehrig jersey or worn material card - Donruss Americana?
7.) Pick up 10 relic cards - the Joe Collector in me thinks there is still some meaning here, though I have to be picky or just get them for about $2. Maybe look for ones featuring retired, Hall of Fame players and 'swatch pieces' seemingly in-line with the uniforms the players wore as active players.
8.) Pick up 10-15 refractor type parallel cards - I love shiny cards and in some cases make a base card prettier.

A bump in the road
I want to collect baseball cards as a hobby [maybe the last link between a childhood activity I can still participate in today] and for a moment I can visualize idealistic ways of looking for the ideal cards, maybe blogging about it, finding a nice card for a bargain, busting packs, sorting cards for leisure and just enjoying the process of collecting. However, I've come to the conclusion that I'm bummed out because collecting sucks.

I've become a clutterbug and collecting is really about organization - if everything is picked up for, organized and displayed on a regular basis, collecting might be fun again, but it isn't. As a kid, you can organize your cards because you more enthused [or enthralled] about it and you didn't have to worry about other things like time.

The writing is on the wall however - as I've gotten older, I've become more lazier and found, it takes more time to sort cards. My mind can't take it at times and I don't want to deal with the clutter. Who really wants to spend some time sorting cards, when you think about the other, cooler things you aren't doing in life.

It really captures how useless collecting is when I buy something and it just sits around - I realize you have the mentality of picking up stuff, but either your plans to do something with particular cards [oh, let's see if I could send those puppies out for autograph requests] never materializes or there isn't a plan at all [great, another pack of base cards, where there might be one card I might use for a random autograph endeavor].

I can't collect them all - I want to simplify the way I collect, but does it mean dumbing it down? I am depressed over a lack of theme to build upon, whether it towards a set or an invidual player and find being too much of a 'casual collector' leaves you with nothing of significance. I really need to be committed to a theme to make collecting work.

The sad fact is does it even matter? Why bother to collect when I figure 90 percent of collecting is just a thing 'to do,' 'buy into,' et al. How much is your collection really worth?

You find there is a ceiling to what you can pick up - You feel self-conscious because everyone else can [blow their wad] from fad to fad. You want to build up a strong, regional collection for example, but it is more complicated than just picking up cheap cards here and there of your favorite team and players.

Other collectors seem to have more sophisticated interests - while you look for simple, things.